Pretty stoked! Especially since I have a week long meeting at the company I work for coming up and they may (may...it may not) have changed it from Orlando to Miramar (Just south and west a bit from the Mai Kai). The only unfortunate thing is that I may have to drive the round-trip from Port St. Lucie to Lauderdale everyday (They were going to put us up in a hotel in Orlando). Won't be able to make the show, but I could stop by for a cocktail.

Just visited their site, printed the forum and mailed it with 20 bucks. I was expecting to receive a paper membership card, especially since the membership only lasts 6 months, but I am impressed they went with the no-doubtably more costly plastic card embossed with my name.

Two complimentary drink coupons, Two 2for1 admission coupons to the Polynesian Show and 25% off Ala Carte Menu items (if you spend $500 between now and Aug 31, you receive 50% off from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1)...plus a cool plastic membership card. Even if you're only planning on visiting once sometime during the rest of the year, this is well worth the $20.

Now if i could only board a time machine and get a membership to the Playboy Club in Miami in the '60s....

Breaking news: As a Hukilau exclusive, old "retired" food and drink menus as well as a small amount of the new drink menu are being sold in the gift shop at The Mai-Kai. First-come, first-served tonight and tomorrow.

At Hukilau I dug into the old building north of the valet stand and directly across from the Mai-Kai main entrance. It was the original gift shop, but lately has seen a fair amount of activity, mostly as a store room. There has been quite a bit of speculation as to what's going on. I crossed the chain and took photos yesterday. Yes, a number of old chairs are stored in there, along with some other stuff. A couple other guys who were walking around the building heard, and told me, that they heard it was going to be turned into -- wait for it -- a tiki cigar lounge. I didn't see any evidence of any real "work" being done in there, although there were a couple saw horses set up, and clearly someone was using the space as a sort of workshop to cut some wood.

I asked Pia about the space later that evening, and also about the "cigar lounge." Her exact words to me were, "Hahahaha, that's the first I've heard of that! Nope, we don't have any plans for it in the near future. But maybe later. Nothing is planned right now."

My favorite photo that I took at The Hukilau: Crazy Al and Beachbum Berry in The Mai-Kai's tiki garden on Sunday ...

On Saturday, The Hukilau and artist Jeff Chouinard presented owner Dave Levy with one of Chouinard's tikis, which will get a special home inside The Mai-Kai. That's manager Kern Mattei at left channeling King Kukulele ...

Levy then got a mystery dance in honor of his birthday (with Crazy Al helping out on percussion) ...

Earlier, Al showed off his Molokai Maiden mug (coming soon from Swank Pad Productions) next to the real deal ...

And the memorable evening ended with the Sweet Hollywaiians from Japan performing a rare set on the main showroom stage ...

Not a lot is written about this, but apparently much of the Thornton brothers' original collection of Polynesian artifacts was donated to their alma mater, Stanford University, in the 1970s after it was deemed to be too valuable to be displayed in the restaurant. Part of the collection was donated to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. It was last displayed in an exhibit there in 2011.

On 2014-06-18 00:01, Hurricane Hayward wrote:Not a lot is written about this, but apparently much of the Thornton brothers' original collection of Polynesian artifacts was donated to their alma mater, Stanford University, in the 1970s after it was deemed to be too valuable to be displayed in the restaurant. Part of the collection was donated to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. It was last displayed in an exhibit there in 2011.